Channel 66 as a translator The channel 66 allocation in the
New York City area originally began operation in 1970 as W66AA, which served as a repeater for
WABC-TV (channel 7). Originally, most of the upper UHF band stations were used as a compromise to work around the "reflection" problem brought about by the then-new
World Trade Center. The issue was that TV signals transmitted from the
Empire State Building (about three miles north of the WTC) would bounce off the WTC skins, leading to viewers on that north/south direction getting excessive ghosting. The use of UHF translators and repeaters that were mounted on the WTC with a northward transmission pattern allowed viewers in that zone the option of tuning in to the new, and clearer, signal. Most of the TV stations moved their primary transmitters to the WTC's North Tower in 1975, thus leaving channel 66 at the Empire State Building as a backup. WABC-TV ceased operating its channel 66 translator at some point in the late 1970s. Channel 66 was allocated in 1984 by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a non-commercial educational station and was assigned to West Milford, New Jersey, northwest of New York City.
As WFME-TV WFME-TV was an outgrowth of radio station WFME (94.7 FM, now
WXBK), which began broadcasting Family Radio programming in 1963 and was purchased outright by the ministry in 1966. Family Stations filed an application in 1986 for the non-commercial allocation for channel 66 and went on the air March 1, 1996. The station's schedule consisted of repeated airings of
Family Bible Reading Fellowship (a video broadcast of a Family Radio Bible study program),
The Joy of Music and
Hymn Sing. On weekend mornings, the station carried some local
public affairs programs, and several shows in
Mandarin aimed at
Chinese Americans. WFME-TV also broadcast a video version of
Open Forum, hosted by Family Radio co-founder
Harold Camping (WFME-TV's general manager); that program ended in June 2011 after
Camping's prediction of the world ending proved incorrect. Initially, in 1996, WFME-TV carried the
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod-produced drama series
This is the Life, local
Baptist and
Christian Reformed church services and a few national televangelists. In 2002, after Camping declared that "the church age is over" and that Christians should no longer participate in organized churches, these outside ministries disappeared.
This is the Life was dropped in 2007.
As WNYJ-TV In late October 2013, it was announced that WFME-TV would become an affiliate of the
MHz Worldview public broadcasting network, effective November 1, 2013. On that date, WFME-TV's callsign was changed to WNYJ-TV; WFME-TV later confirmed this on its own website. Since then, WNYJ-TV has changed programming on its station. On February 1, 2014, WNYJ began carrying
Blue Ocean Network from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. and then aired MHz Worldview programming from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m. On May 1, 2014, programming was changed again with MHz Worldview programming changed to
France 24 in the nighttime hours. MHz Worldview programming was moved to the third subchannel while France 24 was added full-time to the second subchannel. In mid-September 2014, Blue Ocean Network programming was dropped and France 24 went full-time, with the second subchannel reserved for future programming. On December 1, 2014, programming was changed again with
CNC World programming placed on the primary channel and France 24 programming moved back to the second sub-channel. In 2015, France 24 programming was discontinued, leaving CNC World on channel 66.1, MHz Worldview on channel 66.2 and audio from WFME-FM on another subchannel. In the FCC's
incentive auction, WNYJ-TV elected to sell its spectrum and go off the air; WNYJ-TV ceased operations October 25, 2017; the station's license was cancelled the next day at Family Stations' request. CNC World was later moved to
WZME on subchannel .2 until 2019 while MHz Worldview would not have an affiliate in the New York metropolitan area until November 2018 when
WNDT-CD and
WMBQ-CD (both owned by
WNET) returned on the air as an MHz Worldview affiliate. ==Technical information==